Re: Paso Finos

[K S Swigart <katswig@deltanet.com>]

On Wed, 26 Aug 1998, Angela C. McGhee wrote:

> Sell the Quarter Horse for cash.  Pass on the Paso, and while you're at
> it, why not sell the 2 yr. old?  

If you are going to do this, you would do better to trade the QH for the
Paso and sell the Paso for cash, since you are more likely to get more
money for a Paso Fino mare :).

However, if you want to do endurance, get a proven endurance horse.  If
you think it would be fun to have a Paso Fino, and want to know if you can
do endurance with your new toy...you probably can.  In other words, most
people wouldn't choose a Paso Fino as the ideal endurance mount, but if
you would like to own a Paso Fino for their other admirable traits and
want to do endurance with it, you'll probably do just fine. (Caveat:  it
depends on to what extent the horse is a true "fino" horse.  The true
"fino" is a gait where in essence the horse's legs are going 100 miles an
hour and the horse is going nowhere.  However, Paso Finos are also sought
after for their great "largo" gait...which is a GREAT ground covering gait
and a good largo Paso Fino can do it for MILES...and it IS a BLAST!)

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s.  I do NOT own a Paso Fino myself, but do quite a bit of training of
them, and most of the ones I have worked with would make perfectly
adequate LD horses, and a few of them would make nice 50 milers.  Only two
of them are horses that I would consider as possible 100 miler horses, and
one of those is 20, so it will never happen.